John's Cat 5 Bike Racing Blog

Cherry Pie 2010 Success! February 14, 2010

It’s the day after and I’m pretty happy with how my first OBRA race went. No flats, no crash and not last!

On 2/13 I raced in the Cherry Pie Road Race to start my first ever OBRA bike race season. This is nice circuit race in the Willamette Valley north of Corvallis with a few rollers, a couple nice hills and a steep uphill finish. I raced with the Cat4/5 Masters 40+ group of about 75. As my first real mass start race (last year in Tahoe doesn’t really count), my plan was simple: observe, learn and hang on. So here’s how it went.

The weather was teasing cooperatively. Wet roads, low clouds, a drizzle which alternated between the sky and the road, and temps in the 50s made for a pretty good February day in Oregon. I got to the race staging area with plenty of time to scout out the finish – a short steep 1km climb maxing out around 9%. A little longer and a little steeper than the hill in my neighborhood (almost out my door really) that I use for repeats.

I parked that the Adair Frisbee golf park. Nice spot, lots of pavement and parking lot for warming up. I brought my trainer but opted for warming up on the road. In retrospect I seem to need more warm time. My legs seem to like about 6 miles of riding to loosen up and get working.

The race starts with a neutral roll out for the first mile and half. This was good bunch practice and a chance to see just how much braking and accordion action there is in the mass of cycles. Slowing down in the front tends to cause over braking in the middle which gets exaggerated in the back. It works in the reverse with over acceleration too. It’s like a microcosmic Los Angeles freeway traffic jam. Especially with obstacles like a pace car and rail road tracks in the way.

I started out at the back and on the sides of the bunch. As my first race like this I didn’t want to get boxed in or surprised. Hanging on the sides gave me an escape and from the back I could watch everything.

With a couple beeps from a motorcycle the race began and for the next few miles we hit the rollers at a good medium pace. Well, at the time I wasn’t thinking of it as “medium” but it’s all relative. The first rollers were quick and the first 4 miles flew by with the pace running from 22 to 26 mph. The first real test of the race was coming at the 6.5 mile marker with a pretty good little climb – 130′ in just about 1 mile. The pace surged in the approach and the lead hit the first part mercilessly. The hill starts out a 7% swoop and then levels off a bit and lingers up for the rest of the mile. I couldn’t keep up the pace of the bunch though and it pulled away. I didn’t think there would be any chance to reconnect given that just hanging on was pretty near my maximum effort.

Well with almost 20 miles yet to go, I just wasn’t going to turn around and go home. So I spent the rest race picking up other stragglers and working with a couple guys for a few miles, fought the wind in no-mans land and attacked the group I was in on the last climb. And not willing to just sit back and enjoy the ride I set my sites on the guy up the road from and with 200 meters to go I closed the gap and raced to the line, almost catching him. I mean, that’s why we’re here isn’t?

Lessons learned
I don’t know how to ride in a pace line or a peloton. I’m acutely aware that I ride 99% of the time alone and my instinct in the bunch was to get away from others, steer clear, and let them go. When I had to bridge a gap, I rode at pace and tried to inch my way up. Dumb. Sprint, kick or ride hard, close the gap, get on the wheel and rest. I’ve watched enough races to know this yet at the time where it matter, the tactic didn’t occur to me.

Things to look into
What is up with my heart rate! I’ve tried to find my maximum and on the trainer I’ve tried the LTHR method to guess that it’s in the high 180s. I did the “ride until your legs burn for as long as you can” method to come up with that. For most of the beginning of the race I was in the high 180s and for most of the race in the 170s. And definitely under my lactate threshold. I had wild fluctuations while in the bunch and then hardly changed at all for the part of the second half. I know I’m not in peak form but I’m certainly not in *bad* shape!

Up next

The Southern Oregon Time Trial Series is in March and those three races are set in stone. And in April the Kings Valley Road Race is looking good to me.

I’m hooked on this racing stuff!

2009 – The Great Lake Tahoe Bike Race January 10, 2010

The Great Lake Tahoe Bike Race is part of a long weekend of events surrounding the Lake Tahoe Marathon. The race takes a lap around Lake Tahoe with a couple of good climbs at either end including the long ascent to Spooner Summit. It’s an open 72 mile course with a police escort for the first 9 miles through the congested South Lake Tahoe area. The rest of the race is on poorly maintained, narrow winding mountain roads.

Since the race is entirely between 6000 and 7000 feet, elevation was a little bit of a concern. Fortunately I could take the week off work and planned a vacation with my friend and conspirator Debbie. So I started preparations with a 3 day backpack trip through the Desolation Wilderness and a trip to Mt Talac. Circumstances turned out that my very first view of Lake Tahoe (in my life) was from a ridge on the trail going up Talac. By the end of the 3 days I was well acclimatized.

With the race on Saturday, I used Thursday to test out the course and I’m real glad I did. The west side of Lake Tahoe has some of the worst shoulders I’ve ridden on – narrow when present, cracks, potholes, creases and numerous hazards of all kinds. Vacationers, commuters, trucks and trailers of varying speeds will keep you on your toes on this ride. If it wasn’t for the stellar scenery, the lake and the forest this would be a road to avoid.

The north and east side is better until Spooner Summit where it all turns into a 4 lane highway going back to South Lake Tahoe. The highway at least has a wide shoulder, but there are many drainage grates to add texture to a very fast descent.

Scouting the race gave me the heads up for conditions as well as the hills.

The race started early Saturday morning with a mass start at Zephyr Cove. Racers up front, tri-athletes at the back. I hadn’t raced in a mass start event before so I opted for the back where there was less crowd and less intensity. I knew that at the front of the race would be some Truckee bike club and other racers setting out to break the course record. I was hoping to come in within an hour of the leaders so no point in starting with them.

The peloton spread out pretty quickly during the first nine miles through town as rider skill levels sorted out. By the time we reached the other side I had found myself in a pack of similarly paced riders, not really organized, but a couple people taking turns pulling. It was a comfortable group leading into the first real hill and the pace at 18-22mph was good. Hitting the hill broke it all apart.

The 300′ climb up to Inspiration Point is about 2 miles long and has a couple very steep switchbacks and  sections. Racers were all over the road and the tri’s dropped out of sight. I attacked the hill and was pleased that I remained conscious the way up. A quick descent was followed by another climb and the first water of three. And that’s it for real hills until Spooner at mile 57. There are rollers between but nothing substantial or long.

The first hill really spread out the racers so I started looking for a wheel in the rollers. I knew I wanted to keep a good 22 mph pace minimum and fell in between 2 guys that were working together. I chased them down and spent a good 30 miles or so on their wheels. A couple times I pulled and a couple times I attacked but they’d just bring me back. It was a good combination for me through the west and north side of the lake and the pace was strong.  But I ended up losing them on Lakeshore Drive right after the second water change.

Around the 50 mile point we started seeing the marathon runners for the day’s race. Debbie’s sister Leslie was running the triple marathon and I got to cheer her on for a moment as we crossed paths. The rest of the Lakeshore Drive though was a traffic vs bicycle vs marathon mess. Between the stop signs, the marathon runners in the road (instead of the very nice path 10′ over) and the cars thought they’d pass bikers to get the stop sign first, so I ended up losing those guys and losing my pace. At one point I even sat up trying to figure out how to navigate through the traffic without hitting a runner. In retrospect, I should have taken the lane earlier and kept up a 25 mph (speed limit) pace. The stop signs need to be timed and ridden on the right when solo – a group can own the intersection easily enough.

The race organizers need to rethink the Lakeshore Drive section and either get one lane closed or keep the runners off the road. At the least traffic control at the stop signs would be helpful and safe.

After Lakeshore Drive, the race pops out on the main road and hits the climb above Crystal Bay, zips through Incline Village and then goes around the north-east side of Lake Tahoe and the best views of the day.

Also the flat approach to Spooner.

Without a wheel to follow, I started to spin and look for someone to catch. The road on the Nevada side is definitely better than the west side but still narrow and winding with cars on the shoulder, drainage grates and guard rails. I had 2 tactical frustrations on this section. First, a frigging propane truck figured it would turn left across my path. I’m zipping at 28 mph down a short hill and this mid-sized truck full of explosive gas decides to gun it into a drive way cutting me off. He saw me and waved and I swerved around his back getting out into the lane a bit. Thanks guy for nothing.

Then a few miles later it’s guard rail vs full speed tractor-trailer. His wake tossed me around a bit but I kept control. I wear yellow so it’s not like I’m invisible. Drivers feh.

I started catching up with riders now and the road starts the 8 mile climb up Spooner. It’s not particularly steep with 600′ in the first 4 miles, a brief pause and then around 200′ in the last 2 miles. Well under the grade of the Greensprings Highway or Mt Ashland Road in my area – 2 of my favorite climbs. So not much worry other than the 50 miles I’d already ridden.

I found my spin and kept cadence high and motored up the hill passing racers and some century riders too. At first I thought the people on the mountain bikes and touring bikes were racers, and that I had completely misjudged just about everything about my pace. Then, after passing more and more people I noticed they didn’t have numbers on their frames and later I learned that part of the race course was also part of a century ride. Eventually I did start seeing racers again and picked them off one by one on the last legs of the ascent.

Hitting the crest felt good and I took a moment to sit up and get wind back before buzzing across to the descent. 9 miles to go and mostly down, one little incline and then a short down hill to the finish.

This was fun – and I’m very comfortable riding with the brakes wide open. Taking the bike out on some single track really helps to build downhill confidence on the road. Single track descent requires a lot of attention picking out the line to take and quick reflexes to dodge rocks, trees, and what not. There are few choices. Obviously on the road, there’s a lot of options. For rookie like me though, the contrast and experience is real useful – kind of an accelerated learning process. So I was able to pick off a few more riders on the downhill. I caught up with a tri bike with aerobars and hung on his wheel for a bit before attacking. He caught my wheel and a few minutes later attacked back and I caught him. On the next steep part I attacked again and got him. I just swooped around and left him alone and a few miles later had my next target in sight.

The next racer I caught was within the last 1/2 mile or so of the race. The road had leveled out some so gravity wasn’t a huge help and we’re back to mostly people power. I caught up to him and instead of latching onto his wheel even for a moment rest, I went. The chute was in sight and the clock was ticking and it seemed close enough for a sprint finish so tactics be damned. And I thought I had him too. But sure, he jumped on my wheel and waited until the last 100 yards or so to make his move. When he did, I had nothing to respond with and just watched him rip past and finish half a second ahead of me. Lesson learned – tactics win.

In retrospect, I rode too easy for most of the race. I stuck with my race plan and hit my goal and know I could have done it better. I finished 39th in the masters open (83 overall) at 3:43.02. The Spooner climb intimidated me on paper and I kept too much in reserve for it. I could have turned the plan around and instead tried to keep with the lead peloton for as long as possible. I guess that’s what next year will be all about.